Module-04a
Power Distribution- Substations Components
Jerry Bernardini
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Substation Equipment
Transformers
Regulators
Circuit breakers and reclosers
Air disconnect switches
Lightning arresters
Electrical buses
Capacitor banks
Reactors
Static VAR compensators
Control building
Preventative maintenance
Community College of Rhode Island
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Power Transformers
Transformers are primarily used to step voltages up or down.
They only operate with AC power
A step-up transformer is require to increase the generator voltage
to the voltage that is cost effective for transmission
A step-down transformer is required to reduce the transmission
voltage to voltage suitable for distribution
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Transformers consist of two or more windings for each phase and these windings
are usually wound around an iron core.
The iron core improves the efficiency of the transformer by concentrating the
magnetic field and reduces transformer losses.
The high-voltage and low-voltage windings have a unique number of coil turns.
The turns ratio between the coils dictates the voltage and current relationships
between the high- and low-voltage sides.
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Bushings are used on transformers, circuit breakers, and many equipment as connection points.
Bushings connect outside conductors to conductors inside equipment.
Bushings provide insulation between the energized conductor and the grounded metal tank surrounding
the conductor.
The conductors inside the bushings are normally solid copper rods surrounded by porcelain insulation.
Usually an insulation dielectric such as oil or gas is added inside the bushing between the copper
conductor and the porcelain housing to improve its insulation properties.
Mineral oil and sulfur hexafluoride(SF6) gas are common dielectric materials used to increase insulation.
Transformers have large bushings on the high-voltage side of the unit and small bushings on the lowvoltage side.
In comparison, circuit breakers(discussed later) have the same size bushings on both sides of the unit.
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Instrument Transformers
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Current Transformers
Current transformers or CTs are used to scale down the high magnitude of current flowing in
high-voltage conductors to a level much easier to work with safely.
For example, it is much easier to work with 5 amperes of current in the CTs secondary circuit
than it is to work with 1,000 amperes of current in the CTs primary circuit
Using the CTs turn ratio as a scale factor provides the current level required for the
monitoring instrument. Yet, the current located in the high-voltage conductors is actually
being measured.
Taps (or connection points to the coil) are used to allow options for various turns ratio scale
factors to best match the operating current to the instruments current requirements.
Most CTs are located on transformer and circuit breaker bushings, as or a stand-alone highvoltage CT.
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Potential Transformer
Combination CT -PT
Community College of Rhode Island
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Autotransformers
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Regulators
Electric utility companies need to provide their customers with regulated or steady voltage all
the time
Normally, residential 120 Vac is regulated to 5% (i.e., 126 Vac 114 Vac).
Low voltage can cause motors to overheat and burn out. High voltages can cause light bulbs
to burn out too often or cause other appliance issues.
Utility companies use voltage regulators to keep the voltage level within an acceptable or
controlled range
Voltage regulators are similar to transformers.
Regulators have several taps on their windings that are changed automatically under load
conditions by a motor-driven control system called the load tap changer or LTC.
Regulator
Dial
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Circuit Breakers
The purpose of a circuit breaker is to interrupt current flowing in
the line, transformer, bus, or other equipment when a problem
occurs and the power has to be turned off.
Current interruption can be for normal load current, high-fault
current (due to a short-circuit current or problem in the system)
Or simply tripped by protective relaying equipment in anticipation
of an undesirable event or disturbance.
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Recloser
Similar to circuit breakers, reclosers provide circuit breaker functionality and they
also include basic system-protective relaying equipment to control
the automatic opening and reclosing of power circuits.
Reclosers are most commonly used on distribution systems.
They offer cost advantages over standard circuit breakers that require separate
protective relaying equipment.
The reclosers incorporated protective relaying equipment can be programme to
trip at specific overcurrent conditions and reclose at specific time intervals.
After a circuit trip and a programmable time delay, the recloser automatically
reenergizes the circuit.
Commonly used as circuit breakers on distribution lines or in smaller substations
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Recloser Lock-outs
Reclosers are typically set to trip and reclose two or three
times before a lock-out condition occurs.
Lock-out means that a person working on the line must
manually reset the recloser for power to be restored.
If the fault condition clears before the recloser locks-out, the
protective relaying resets back to the start of the sequence.
Reclosers can also be tripped manually. This allows the
recloser to be used as a load-break switch or sectionalizer
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Disconnect Switches
There are many purposes for disconnect switches in substations and powerlines.
They are used to isolate or deenergize equipment for maintenance purposes,
transfer load from one source and emergencies
They provide visual openings for maintenance personnel (an OSHA requirement
for safety against accidental energization)
Disconnect switches usually have low current interrupting ratings compared to
circuit breakers.
Normally, power lines are first deenergized by circuit breakers (due to their high
current interrupting ratings)
This is followed by the opening of the air disconnect switches for isolation.
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Substation Switches
http://www.electrotechnik.net/2010/10/gang-operated-switches.html
There are many types of substation disconnect switches, including vertical break and horizontal
break types.
Disconnect switches are normally gang operated.
The term gang is used when all three phases are operated with one operating device.
Air disconnect switches are usually opened and closed using control handles mounted at the base
of the structure.
Sometimes, motor operator mechanisms are attached to the control rods to remotely control
their operation.
Ganged Switch
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Arcing Rods
Spring-loaded devices called arcing rods to help clear arcs from small
currents by whipping open the electrical connection after the switchs
main contacts have opened.
These spring-loaded devices are also referred to as a whips or horns.
The arcing rods increase the switchs current-opening rating, but usually
not enough to open a normal load
Arcing rods are sacrificial, in that the rods get pitted in the opening
process, rather than the main switch contacts.
Rods are cheap and easy to replace.
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Lightening Arrestors
Lightning arresters are designed to limit the line-to-ground voltage in the event of lightning or other
excessive transient voltage conditions.
Some of the older gap-type lightning arresters actually short-circuited the line or equipment,
causing the circuit breaker to trip.
The breaker would then re close when the transient overvoltage condition was gone.
The lightning arrester protects the equipment near the lightning arrester from experiencing highvoltage transient conditions
The newer lightning arresters use gapless metal oxide semiconductor materials to clamp or limit the
voltage. These newer designs offer better voltage control and have higher energy dissipation
characteristics.
They can be found near distribution transformers, overhead of underground transition structures,
and along long distribution lines.
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Arrestor Classes
Distribution Class
Station Class Arrester
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Substation Buses
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Capacitor Uses
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Reactors
Reactor is another name for a high-voltage inductor. They are essentially one-winding transformers.
Reactors are used in electric power systems for two main reasons.
Reactors are used in a shunt configuration (i.e., line to ground connections), to help regulate
transmission system voltage by absorbing surplus reactive power (VARs) from generation or line
charging.
Line charging is the term used to describe the capacitance effects of long transmission lines since
they are essentially long skinny capacitors (i.e., two conductors separated by a dielectricthe air).
Second, they are connected in series to reduce fault current in distribution lines.
Reactors can be open-air coils or coils submerged in oil.
Reactors are available in either single-phase or three-phase units.
Series Reactor
Oil Immersed Shunt Reactor
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The Static VAR Compensator (SVC) is a device used on AC transmission systems to control power
flow, improve transient stability on power grids, and reduce system losses .
The SVC regulates voltage at its terminals by controlling the amount of reactive power injected or
absorbed from the power system.
The SVC is made up of several capacitors and inductors (i.e., reactors) and an electronic switching
system that enables ramping up or down reactive power support.
When system voltage is low, the SVC generates reactive power (i.e., is SVC capacitive).
When system voltage is high, the SVC absorbs reactive power (i.e., is SVC inductive).
The variation of reactive power is performed by switching three-phase capacitor banks and
inductor banks connected on the secondary side of a coupling transformer.
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Control Buildings
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Control buildings house important sequence-of-events recorders (SOEs) needed to accurately track
the operation of all substation equipment activity, primarily just before, during, and after system
disturbances.
Accurate time stamps are placed on each event for follow-up analysis. Some of the items
tracked include relay operations and circuit breaker trip information.
The recorder produces a data file or paper record of all events that occurred during
a major disturbance.
This information is later analyzed with SOE data from other substations (including those from other
utilities) to determine what went right or wrong, and what changes are needed to avoid similar
disturbances in the future.
This information is time stamped by highly accurate satellite clocks. This enables one to analyze an
interconnected power system disturbance to determine whether the equipment operated properly
and what recommendations are needed.
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Preventive Maintenance
There are many ways to perform preventative maintenance on
electric power systems.
Scheduled maintenance programs, site inspections, and routine
data collection and analysis are very effective.
An enhanced or a more effective means of performing preventative
maintenance is predictive maintenance.
Sometimes this is called condition-based maintenance, when
maintenance is based on measured or calculated need rather than
just a schedule.
Predictive maintenance can identify potentially serious problems
before they occur.
Two very effective predictive maintenance programs or procedures
are infrared scanning and dissolved gas analysis testing.
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